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The DC Comics TV & Movie Thread - A Thread for Talking about Detective Comics Comics Television Shows and Movies

I refuse to celebrate or breathe a sigh of relief until I'm actually watching S4. Especially when S2 was actually just S1 part 2, arbitrarily cut into two chunks for marketing purposes. Especially especially when there's a production shakeup with a change of showrunners.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
The change of showrunner is very concerning, though at least it’s someone who’s been involved in the show from early on, and the original showrunners are still involved as producers. It’s impossible at the moment to know how much of this is meddling and how much of it is torch passing. Also it’s two dudes stepping aside for a woman to run a show about a female same-sex couple, which I’m kind of okay with?

Either way, I’d rather have a fourth season ruin the show than WB chuck the whole thing into a tax hole and remove it from culture. Though yeah, chucking it into a tax hole mid-production is still a possibility.

What I want to know is whether this new showrunner will give Bane plot armor like the original showrunners promised to 😤
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
If I had to guess, it’s probably executive meddling taking the show in a direction the original guys didn’t want and they decided to let someone else shepherd it rather than kill it off.

Honestly I’m just glad we’ll at least see how this absolutely stellar season ends. I was so convinced the show was doomed.
 
I'm not ready to say executive meddling, when it could just be the previous showrunners seeing the writing on the wall at WBD and planning their exits early. Which is exactly what I would be doing if I was producing an animated show for HBO Max right now. Better to find new employment ASAP instead of waiting around like a fish in a barrel waiting to get shot.
 
Jesus Christ this show is surreally good. Like. Man. How is this possible?

Edit: I gotta stop watching this after midnight when it goes live. It wires me up. I have things to do [strike]tomorrow[/strike] today!
 

gogglebob

The Goggles Do Nothing
(he/him)
Okay, so Harley Quinn comment to echo WisteriaHysteria here...

I have always liked this show, but it was always very much an "Elseworld" thing to me. Like, all the familiar characters are here, but they are changed significantly from their canon portrayals, so it is hard to say you are seeing "A good Joker story" when this Joker is so different from what you would see in other media. And, to be clear, I am well aware that this is the nature of comics and adapted media, but, like, it is the difference between "Clark Kent, Superman" and "Superman: Red Son". Red Son is a great Superman story, but it isn't about "real" Superman. This is a totally different universe, and as much as I would like to see Harley Quinn's Poison Ivy be the defining portrayal of the character going forward, I know it is not going to happen. We are more likely to see Schumacher Poison Ivy in the next Batman movie over this character.

(And don't get me started on how I would watch an entire series based on this King Shark or Clayface, but you better believe neither "personality" will ever be seen again.)

ALL THAT SAID, damn, the most recent episode is freaking (amazingly!) ur-Batman, and could slot into practically any portrayal of Bruce Wayne across any media. "Batman" in Harley Quinn has always been this weirdo in a bat costume that doesn't jibe with other versions (but, to be clear, is perfect for this universe), but this episode showed an extremely deep and nuanced understanding of exactly what makes the character tick.

And, oh yeah, it was laugh out loud funny, too. Outstanding how that works out.
 
Even if a lot of the interpretations of DC characters in HQ is different from what is classically done with them, none of them are so egregiously out-of-character that it would make them fundamentally incompatible. Especially when it's been the modus operandi of DC Comics to continually reinvent its characters. In fact, I'd go so far as to say most of them are perfectly in-line with their classical portrayals. Batman IS fundamentally a weirdo in a bat-suit. It's just that here we're seeing him from a different perspective and also we have some characters actively pointing it out that he's a weirdo to take the piss out of him. Jim Gordon has been an alcoholic and a bad father/husband before; he's just a little more Blue Lives Matter now which is perfectly in line with, you know, him being a cop. Joker settling down to be a family man is just perfect, because if they wanted to, they could flip that on its head at the drop of a dime as his greatest joke yet. Poison Ivy IS a radical ecoterrorist who hates other people and doesn't ever work well with others. Clayface IS fundamentally an actor, who initially delighted in being able to physically embody the roles he would play.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Not to derail, but I was just catching up on the last month of this thread (i.e. all the merger nonsense) and was suddenly reminded that I’m now technically related to a member of the 90 Day Fiancé universe.
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
I haven't been commenting on it, but the new season of Stargirl has been very good. Joel McHale does not fit into this show in the best way.
 
Related to the after credits sequence for Black Adam:

David Zaslav is bad, Snyder Cut goons are bad, but Cavil is good. Glad he's getting another shot.
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
The ending stinger was whatever, but reading thinking about Black Adam and reading some reviews has solidified it in my mind as a really solid movie. Not great, but very good, I think. It mostly does a great job of treating Black Adam kind of like Godzilla. They awaken this ancient, unstoppable power and he just destroys everything in his path. To start with his goals and motivations seem unknowable; he is just destruction personified. It really works.

I also think it did a great job with the JSA. Hawkman is prickly, and refuses to back down even when presented with a clearly superior force. Dr. Fate is mostly inscrutable. Atom Smasher has this sense of really trying hard to live up to expectations, and being a bit of a goof. Cyclone had the least established comic history, and she was mostly that; eager and super qualified, but also seems to have trouble relating to people. I hope this gets a JSA movie going.
 
It’s the best, and I’m delighted it survived, but why isn’t it a podcast?!
It IS the best. And I can't tell you why WB does what it does. I don't think anyone can. However! I think that's an error that they've been rectifying lately. Season 1 is up on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and probably a few other places as well. And they promise S2 is inbound.


I HIGHLY encourage everyone to give it a try, it's primo-Batman.

I finished listening to Season 2 a few nights ago. It's kind of awesome how well Batman works in this medium. Should be no surprise considering Batman radio plays were hand-in-hand with the comics back in the Golden Age. But still, it's crazy how well it works too. You know how you always hear about how Harvey Dent is Bruce Wayne's friend, but no Bat-media in the last however many decades actually shows that to be the case? It's kinda great how a radio play like this can actually explore stuff like that a bit. Also Brent Spiner is now my favorite Joker of all time.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Frankly, I feel sorry for anyone saddled with that job solely because the people at the top seem intent on undermining everyone at the creative stage but if we are talking purely what will result in interesting films, I like Gunn. It's a good choice. I know little about the other dude.
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
I think Gunn is a good choice to head this up, but yeah, his success is really dependent on the head honchos at WB picking a path and sticking with it. Previous heads barely got time to try to clean up the mess from the previous direction and change course before being removed and the studio having to find a new direction again.

Its like if Marvel wanted to pull the plug after Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 somewhat disappointed.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
I think Gunn is a good choice to head this up, but yeah, his success is really dependent on the head honchos at WB picking a path and sticking with it. Previous heads barely got time to try to clean up the mess from the previous direction and change course before being removed and the studio having to find a new direction again.
My hope is the approach will be a little like his The Suicide Squad; an implied pre-built world instead of having to make a big deal out of establishing that big things are coming. Be different from Marvel by being expressly more standalone yet with crossover in the way it and Birds of Prey did. I don't necessarily need more R-rated DC but those feel closer to the model I personally would want.
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
Honestly, I think DC has been doing a pretty great job the last 5 years, pretty much since Justice League. Nice variety of tones, from Shazam to The Suicide Squad to Aquaman, nice variety of sub-genres.
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
I am higher on that movie than most, but at the very least it is an ambitious, interesting mess. It tries to resolve its central villain conflict without a physical fight, which is not something I can think of another superhero movie doing off the top of my head.
 
Now that the first season is out of the paywall I started listening and, yes, this is the good stuff
Spread the good word, brother-man!

Honestly, I think DC has been doing a pretty great job the last 5 years, pretty much since Justice League. Nice variety of tones, from Shazam to The Suicide Squad to Aquaman, nice variety of sub-genres.
I think the movies they've released have all been good. I even like WW84. But the movies in development hell have belayed a very different picture of the studio's internal workings.
 
I am higher on that movie than most, but at the very least it is an ambitious, interesting mess. It tries to resolve its central villain conflict without a physical fight, which is not something I can think of another superhero movie doing off the top of my head.
I think it's pretty interesting as well. My big complaint is not enough Kristen Wiig
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
The A plot of the latest episode of Titans S4 involves Nightwing seeking out an elf to help him save Starfire, who has been turned to stone by magic. Its everything I want out of this show.
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
Stargirl Season 3 is too good. This show did not deserve to be cancelled. I can't say enough good things about it.
 
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